2015 Fantasy Football Outlook for Cincinnati Bengals Stars

The Cincinnati Bengals stars face a pivotal 2015 season. Fantasy football owners should follow closely as Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill compete for playing time while A.J. Green enters his contract year.

Head coach Marvin Lewis and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson are both on the hot seat after this talented Bengals offense finished just 15th in the league in scoring—16th in standard fantasy scoring.

Injuries factored into the offense's struggles, but a nine-place decline in rank from 2013 doesn’t bode well for Lewis if he can't turn things around in his 13th season at the helm in Cincinnati. A fourth straight wild-card playoff loss doesn’t help much, either.

The Bengals didn’t make any significant moves on offense in free agency besides re-signing Clint Boling and Eric Winston to the offensive line. Owner and team president Mike Brown shrewdly maintained the continuity of a stalwart offensive line unit that ranked seventh in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus.  

Cork Gaines' Business Insider roundup of 11 expert mock drafts indicates the gurus are undecided on who the Bengals might select at No. 21, but seven are leaning toward defense.

If Cincinnati’s current offensive unit can stay healthy, 2015 should be an improvement for many of its fantasy stars.

Honorable Mention

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James Wright, WR

Wright is in line to compete for the third wide receiver slot on the depth chart, with Brandon Tate and Dane Sanzenbacher both unsigned at this point in the offseason.

Kevin Brock, TE

Brock is slated to take the No. 2 tight end position behind Tyler Eifert if Jermaine Gresham leaves via free agency.

Ryan Hewitt, HB

Hewitt primary blocked at fullback/tight end in 2014, but he could find an increased role in the receiving game if Gresham moves on.

Rex Burkhead, RB

Burkhead appears to have eclipsed Cedric Peerman as Cincinnati’s No. 3 running back. Peerman is currently an unrestricted free agent.

Burkhead put up 57 combined yards in the Bengals’ wild-card loss to the Indianapolis Colts, nearly matching the 76 rushing and receiving yards he compiled in the regular season.

The 2013 sixth-rounder out of Nebraska doesn’t carry any fantasy relevance in 2015 unless Giovani Bernard and/or Jeremy Hill miss significant time.

Mohamed Sanu, WR

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Sanu stepped into Cincinnati’s No. 2 wide receiver spot admirably in 2014 after Marvin Jones landed on injured reserve. The 2012 third-rounder out of Rutgers posted career highs in catches (56), yards (790) and touchdowns (five).

Unfortunately for Bengals fans and fantasy owners alike, Sanu achieved the dubious distinction of the most butterfingered receiver in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. He flubbed 14 of 70 catchable passes, leading all receivers—who took at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps—with a 20 percent drop rate.

This blemish is the reason Rotoworld ranks Sanu behind Jones on Cincinnati’s wide receiver depth chart.

Sanu still carries value on fantasy rosters in 2015, but it will be as a reserve if he is demoted to the Bengals’ WR3 as forecasted.

Tyler Eifert, TE

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Eifert participated in just one game in 2014, effectively ending his season with a dislocated elbow.

Marvin Lewis said Eifert was “progressing” toward a 2014 return in November, according to Corey Harvey of ESPN.com. But Cincinnati instead shelved Eifert after shoulder surgery, per Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson on Twitter.  

The Bengals drafted Eifert 21st overall out of Notre Dame in 2013. He pushed Jermaine Gresham as a rookie, trailing him by just six catches, 13 yards and two touchdowns.

Gresham is currently a free agent and just underwent back surgery, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

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Free agent TE Jermaine Gresham was diagnosed today with a herniated disc, source said. He’s scheduled for surgery tomorrow.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2015

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Eifert is on track to return for Bengals training camp, according to Harvey.

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Marvin Lewis says the timetable looks good for Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert to return by camp. Hue Jackson said something similar earlier

— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) February 19, 2015

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The 6’6”, 250-pound prototype is an intriguing tight end sleeper heading into 2015.

Marvin Jones, WR

Al Behrman/Associated Press

Jones missed all of 2014 with foot and ankle injuries, thwarting fantasy owners eager for an encore of his 10-touchdown performance in 2013.

His recovery is progressing well, Jones said to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com in early February.

"I’ve got the green light to do anything and everything I need to do to get back to where I need to be. I’ve been surprised at the progress I’ve made in only going on my second week training and at the rate I’m going I’m sure I will be in game shape very soon."

Cincinnati’s fifth-round draft pick out of California in 2012 enters the final year of his rookie contract, with big expectations from himself and the team. He and Mohamed Sanu will compete for the second spot on the wide receiver depth chart.

Jones graded out far better in 2013 (11.0) as Cincinnati’s No. 2 wideout compared to Sanu in 2014 (-6.7), according to Pro Football Focus.

Monitor the situation closely and peg Jones as a sleeper WR2 in 2015 if he starts alongside A.J. Green on a weekly basis.

Andy Dalton, QB

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Dalton completed a typical season in 2014 given his four-year track record: 16 starts, 3,398 yards, 19 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and an 83.5 passer rating. He finished 18th in fantasy scoring among quarterbacks, averaging 13.1 points per week.

His consistency earned him his second career Pro Bowl invitation, but probably not so many championships for fantasy owners.

Dalton reliably scored in the teens each week, posting just two 20-plus efforts and three single-digit bombs.

Supporters can’t convincingly blame Dalton’s mediocrity on A.J. Green’s injury woes given 18-, five- and 19-point finishes in Weeks 6-8, games Green spent on the sidelines. Dalton’s top weapon did play at less than 100 percent for most of the season, though.  

Mike Brown acknowledged Dalton needs a great supporting cast to be great himself in an interview with Paul Dehner Jr. of The Cincinnati Enquirer:

"He is the style of guy who can function best when he has a good group around him. He needs that. Maybe he needs it more than some, but they all need it. There is no quarterback that goes out and has success without good players in the mix."

The same goes for fantasy owners. Dalton should only be consistently starting in larger formats—14- to 16-team leagues—and there better be a ton of talent around him to help carry that squad.

Giovani Bernard, RB

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Bernard stumbled a bit in 2014 after an appetizing rookie debut. He posted nearly identical rushing numbers to his rookie season—168 carries, 680 yards and five touchdowns—but his receiving prowess regressed, as he logged 13 fewer receptions for 165 fewer yards and two touchdowns.

The 2013 second-rounder out of North Carolina experienced what it’s like to get eclipsed by a rookie after he did the same to BenJarvus Green-Ellis a season earlier. Jeremy Hill—Cincinnati’s 2014 second-round pick—dominated the Bengals backfield in the second half of the season.

Hill’s ascension on Cincinnati’s depth chart isn’t all bad for Bernard’s fantasy prospects, however. He finished fourth in receiving yards among running backs over the final four games of the season with 144, according to NFL.com.

Bernard’s strong finish complementing Hill in 2014 realized the Bengals' vision for his “explosive, multi-dimensional” skill set, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Bernard missed three games due to injury in 2014, finishing 18th among fantasy running backs.

Count on him to post a similar body of work in 2015 as a solid RB2 in a blossoming offense.

Jeremy Hill, RB

AJ Mast/Associated Press

Hill blasted off in his NFL debut once he wrestled the lead back position away from Giovani Bernard. He finished 2014 with 1,124 yards and nine touchdowns, adding 215 yards receiving.

The second-rounder out of LSU topped several All-Rookie teams, including those by Pro Football Writers of America, Sports Illustrated and NFL.com.

Hill averaged a whopping 5.1 yards per carry in his 222 attempts. That number bumped to 5.6 in the seven games he rushed at least 15 times, per Dehner. He led the league in rushing yards over the last four weeks of the season with 441, according to NFL.com.

Hill tied Lamar Miller of the Miami Dolphins for ninth in fantasy scoring among running backs, averaging 10.1 points per game. The phenom stands to easily crack the top five with a consistent workload in 2015.

No one on the Bengals is officially declaring Hill Cincinnati’s lead back for 2015, but the evidence is indisputable.   

A.J. Green, WR

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Green suffered through toe, arm and head injuries during an erratic 2014 campaign. His 69 receptions for 1,041 yards and six touchdowns left many fantasy owners frustrated, dealing with the lowest yardage and touchdown totals of his four-year career.

The perennial Pro Bowler finished 21st among wide receivers in fantasy scoring, averaging 10.2 points per game in 13 starts. Green ended five weeks with goose eggs—including three missed starts in Weeks 6-8—crushing fantasy owners who drafted him third among wide receivers on average.  

Cincinnati picked up the fifth-year option on the 2012 first-rounder’s rookie contract last offseason, making 2015 a contract year for Green if nothing changes.

Green is poised for a bounce-back season in 2015 if his health cooperates. Fantasy owners should take him among the top five wide receivers without hesitation.

NFL statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference , fantasy stats courtesy of ESPN.com, contract and salary cap information provided by Over the Cap (h/t to Rotoworld for tweets and quotes unless otherwise noted).